Be Strong
by Angel's Star
Summary: Destiny Island is a nice place to live, but four certain teens want to get off it. When something horrible happens, it's up to Sora and Kupo to fix it. R&R (no flames)
1. Beginnings

A/N: Yay! My first KH fic! Yippee! Yes, I'm excited. I hope you guys enjoy this as much as I'm gonna enjoy writing it! No flames 'cause this is my first Kingdom Hearts fic. And I know I said I probably wouldn't update again until next year, but I couldn't help it! So, R&R.

Disclaimer: Nope. Don't own it, but I do own my OC.

Chapter 1.

Beginnings

"He's like that a lot, huh?"

"Only sometimes. You should know anyway! You've known him a few years."

"Yeah well...."

"Awww. Is Kairi too shy to ask him?"

"Shut up, Kupo!"

"You like Sora, huh?" Kupo asked as she brushed some of her light brown hair from her face.

Kairi looked away and Kupo could tell it was automatic yes.

"You don't know what it's like to have a crush on one of your friends," Kairi said. "It's just kind'a hard to deal with."

"You have no idea...." Kupo muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing."

The two girls were sitting on that one island with the bridge that connected it to Destiny Island. It was a beautiful day, but neither girl had any idea what to do. They had followed Riku out to that small island in hopes of finding something fun to do, but all he wanted to do was train with his wooden sword.

"Hey!" Kupo said. "Maybe we could go work on the raft."

Riku glanced up for a second, then continued training.

"Great idea!" Kairi said as they made their way back across the bridge.

-------

Sora dealt the final blow to the Heartless and smiled in victory. He was about to do something else, but heard a voice. He looked around, but couldn't see anybody. Something was shaking him hard. He opened his eyes and saw Kairi smiling at him.

"Get up, you lazy bum!" She commanded teasingly.

"Wha'?" Sora asked in a dazed tone. He was back on Destiny Island. The boy glanced down at his hand, but didn't see his weapon he had used to kill off the Heartless.

"C'mon!" Kupo said. "We're gonna work on our raft!"

"Why do you need me?" He asked as the three walked along the beach to the raft.

"We'll need you to go get some stuff and Kupo's gonna help ya," Kairi stated. She had taken everything into her own hands.

When they got to the raft, Kairi named over a few things that each were supposed to get. Sora's first task was to get the coconuts out of the nearby tree and Kupo's job was to get the fish.

"You can do better than that!" Kairi called to Sora as he did his best to get the coconuts. "I've seen you do better!"

Sora grumbled as he dropped a few coconuts down to Kairi. "Just the gold ones, right?"

"Right," she said as she caught a coconut. "Ah! Watch it! Don't hit me!"

The boy snickered a bit as he climbed up the next tree. Kairi was fun to tease sometimes.

-------

Kupo untied the scarf around her waist and laid it on the sand. She also pulled off her gloves, rolled up her right pant leg (It was longer than the other one. Think of a shorts/Capri combo), and took off her shoes.

__

These fish better be worth it! She thought as she waded out to deeper water.

A fish darted away as she came closer. It was a big one too! The girl lunged at it, but only managed to fall in the water. She looked up and it was swimming nearby, as if mocking her. She grabbed it by its tail fin and put it in the bottle.

"Great," she sighed. "I got all wet just for one fish."

Some one was laughing at her. She quickly grabbed another fish in a bottle and stood up. It was Riku.

"What's wrong, Kupo?" He asked teasingly. "You gonna let some little fish out smart you?"

"As a matter of fact," she said proudly, "I've already got two!"

"Wow!" He said sarcastically. "That's impressive."

She glared at Riku for a second and grabbed another fish in a different bottle. "How about now, Mr. I-Love-Myself-A-Little-Too-Much?"

The two had a thing about teasing each other all the time and this was just another one of those times.

--------

"So, this is the last thing we need?"

"That's what Kairi said."

"Well that's good 'cause it's gettin' late!" Sora complained.

"Just chill!" Kupo playfully smacked him on his head.

The two pushed some weeds aside and ducked into that one cave on their island. They had been there many times when they were younger, but lately they hadn't thought of going in there. But since Kairi needed some stuff, they had to go in there to get it.

"So what's this door here for?" Kupo asked. She had seen it many times before, but she never asked about it before. Something just felt weird about it this time.

"Who knows," Sora sighed. "It's been there since forever."

Kupo rolled her eyes. "Let's just get what we need and go. It's kind'a creepy in here."

Sora finished drawing something on the rock wall and picked up the things they needed. The girl glanced over at the wall and saw that he had drawn a shooting star. Not a very good one, but a star none the less. She turned to go but stopped and screamed. Sora whirled around and saw what she was looking at.

"Who are you?" The girl shouted at a hooded figure. The two teens knew he hadn't been there when they came in. (A/N: Don't blame me if this part doesn't turn out just right. It's been a while since I've been on Destiny Island!)

The figure didn't answer her question, but said, "Darkness lurks everywhere. You might get swallowed up, if you're not careful."

"What are you talking about?" Sora questioned.

"Beware of the Heartless," the figure said. "They are everywhere. Even on this island and on other worlds."

"Heartless?" Kupo asked, making sure she heard him right.

The figure stepped back a bit and disappeared into the wall. The two gathered up what they needed and ran out of that cave.

--------

Sora raced ahead, but tripped over a coconut. Riku ran past him and up the hill. The other boy jumped up and attempted to catch up, but the silver haired boy had won. The raft would be called Highwind. Riku began to brag about how fast he was and how Sora could never beat him. Kairi and Kupo laughed at how upset Sora got over a stupid race.

"Anyone else wanna challenge the champ?" Riku questioned, looking over in Kupo's direction. He knew she couldn't pass up a challenge like this.

"Fine," she said and stepped forward. "If I win, we're gonna call the raft S.S. Best Friends. Deal?"

"Deal," the boy agreed.

They made their way back to the starting point. As soon as Kairi had shouted "go", they were off. Riku was in the lead, but didn't stay there for long. Kupo used the rope thingy (you know!) to get ahead. She jumped over the coconut that had given Sora his trouble and ran up the hill.

Riku wasn't far behind. The girl was at the top of the hill and he was only a few feet behind. He jumped across a gap in the trail and jumped another one. He was catching up. It would be close. The two were both at the star with hands out stretched for it. It lit up.

Neither moved for a second, but it was Kupo who had touched it first. They made their way back to the raft and Kupo told about her amazing victory. She also bragged about how fast she was and how Riku couldn't beat her. Sound familiar?

"S.S. Best Friends it is, then!" Kairi declared.

-------

"How are we gonna get to other worlds on our little raft?" Sora asked. It was later in the afternoon and the sun was beginning to set. The four friends were on that island with the bridge leading out to it.

"Who knows," Kairi said. "We just have to give it a try."

"Besides, it'll be fun!" Kupo added. "And it'll be an adventure!"

"What do you think, Riku?" Sora asked.

"It's gonna be an adventure alright," he said. "But I have no idea how we're gonna get off this island. All we can do is try."

"You guys," Kupo said, "if I'm not home soon, my Mom's gonna kill me!"

The others agreed quickly and left the small island. On the way back, though, Riku had something to give Sora.

"What is it?" The younger boy asked.

"Here," Riku said and handed Sora some Paupu fruit. "You get first choice of either Kupo or Kairi."

Sora heard the teasing tone in Riku's voice and threw the Paupu fruit into the ocean. "Very funny...."

"I know," the older boy said smugly.

They made their way off the bridge, not knowing somebody was listening.

"So they're going to other worlds, huh?" A girl said. "No wonder they've been so busy lately! I'll just have to follow 'em."

-------

****

A/N: There! I hope you enjoyed it. I really liked writing it, so **NO FLAMES, PLEASE!!!!** Thank you. So, who is this girl who wants to follow Sora, Kairi, Kupo, and Riku to other worlds? Review to help me get the next chapter out soon!


	2. Attack on Destiny Island

A/N: I'm back, guys! And I have another chapter with me! (everybody cheers) Thank you. Thank you. (bows) Now before we all get old and moldy (you should hear how I say that!), I'll start the story!

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts? No. Kupo? Yes.

Chapter 2

Attack on Destiny Island

I've been having these weird thoughts lately. Like is any of this for real? Or is it just a dream?

Kupo fell through the water. Nothing was right, but she wasn't fighting against it. It seemed like an endless fall. She opened her eyes and was back on Destiny Island. It was in the middle of the day. That couldn't be right, could it? A huge wave began forming in the ocean.

The girl noticed Kairi standing out in the ocean. She turned around and looked at Kupo with a dazed look on her face.

"Kairi!" Kupo shouted. "Look out!"

But when the other girl didn't move, Kupo rushed out in the ocean to try to save her. The wave crashed down on them and Kupo began to panic. She couldn't breath.

I have to get to the surface. She thought. But it seemed so far away.

She took a breath and found that she had finally come to the surface. Some one was laughing at her. Probably Riku. The girl was right.

Kupo swam to the shore and playfully punched Riku in the arm. Before either could do anything else, they heard a loud splash. Both looked out at the ocean and saw small meteors falling. But one "meteor" was a person!

What?! Kupo thought. _How can that be me if I'm standing right here?!_

Kupo thought. 

Before she new it she was back under water, falling yet again. But this time, she landed on a huge platform with a picture of a princess on it. There were three stands surrounding her. One had a sword, another a shield, and the last one had a staff.

"Choose which power you desire," a voice said.

Kupo was scared, but she obeyed and walked over to the sword (that's what we all chose, right?).

"The power to protect and destroy," the voice said. "Is this the power you choose?"

"Yes," Kupo said. She was feeling much braver with that sword in her hands.

"What power will you give up for it?"

The girl already knew. She walked over to the staff. "This one."

"You choose the power to protect and destroy and give up the power of magic and healing," the voice said. "Is that what you choose?"

"Yes."

The voice didn't say anything else, but the three small stands suddenly crashed down into the floor. Everything seemed ok for a second until the girl saw the platform she was standing on begin to crumble. She stepped back, but only managed to fall anyway.

Kupo's feet touched the floor again. She was on another platform with another princess picture. A small ray of light shone on a door ahead.

I can see through this door, so I probably can't open it. She thought. _I wonder why._

She thought. 

"As you make your way through your journey, you will encounter many creatures who will try to take your heart," the voice said. "These creatures are called Heartless. You can't let them have your heart."

The girl nodded, not caring whether the "voice" was looking or not.

"Behind you!"

She whirled around and drew her sword. A little black creature was standing behind her. It didn't seem like it would hurt her until five more of its friends appeared out of the floor.

They jumped at her and she swung her sword at them. The three left standing decided that they had better leave her alone.

Kupo noticed something move out of the corner of her eye. She turned and saw that stairs had formed. While looking around for more Heartless that dared to challenge her, she started up the stairs.

When she got to the top, the voice spoke again. "There will always be light to defeat the darkness. But with the light, your shadow grows bigger."

The girl looked back and saw her shadow stretched out far behind her. But it was alive! It grasped the floor and pulled itself up. Her shadow began to take form as something else. Some huge creature with stuff wrapped around its head and a huge heart shape cut out of its body.

The girl stepped back and remembered her sword. No way she was going down with out a fight!

"Don't be afraid....." the voice said.

The huge creature stopped growing and glared down at her. The girl new the odds were against her, but she wasn't going to be a damsel in distress.

A huge hand reached out for Kupo, but she cut it with her sword. The hand retreated and the monster glared at her angrily. It slammed one fist down on the floor and darkness began oozing out from under it. Three small Heartless that she had already faced popped up out of the darkness.

Kupo rushed to the hand and began hacking away at it with all her might. The Shadows jumped her as the hand retreated again. The girl whirled around in a circle with her sword out stretched. When she looked around, the three were gone.

The huge creature watched her for a second before it slammed its hand down again. They went through the same cut the hand kill the Shadows routine again.

As the girl was cutting away at the hand, the monster lowered its head to watch for a second. It was getting really mad about its hand, so it raised up high and slammed its two fists down at the girl.

Kupo's sword disappeared and she jumped back away from another hand slam. Darkness began to cover the floor. It was everywhere. She couldn't help standing in it. The darkness began to pull her down.

"Don't be afraid of the darkness," the voice said.

That's easy for you to say! Kupo thought as she struggled to get out. _You're probably up on some chair far away from here drinking lemonade!_

Kupo thought as she struggled to get out. 

"As long as you have light, you will defeat it," the voice continued. "And remember....."

Remember what?! Kupo thought.

It was getting harder for her to breathe. The darkness now covered her.

"You will be the one to open the door...." the voice said.

Kupo sat up and looked around. She was back in her room. It was all just a dream. Not real at all, right? She didn't have her sword that she had used to kill Heartless with, so it must've been a dream. _Just_ a dream.

"Hm?" She said as she stepped out of bed. "Was that thunder?"

The girl walked over to her window. Sure enough, it was a storm.

"The raft!" She cried.

-------

After she changed clothes, she dashed outside and spotted Sora. He was coming from his house too.

"Hey, Sora!" Kupo called.

"Look out!" He shouted. "Behind you!"

"Huh?" The girl turned around and saw six Shadows. The Heartless from her dream! She grabbed her wooden sword and made a dash for them.

"The wooden swords don't hurt them!" Sora shouted above the thunder. "We have to find Riku and Kairi!"

Kupo ran after Sora and onto that island with the bridge. Riku stood there looking out at the ocean.

"Riku, what are-" the girl started.

"The portal has finally opened," he said as he turned around to face them. "This is our chance to get off the island!"

"What are you talking about?" Sora asked.

"We can finally explore other worlds!" He said. "We probably won't be able to come back here, but isn't it worth it?"

"What about Kairi?" Kupo asked.

"Kairi's coming with us," he said, then reached for the two. "Come on."

They were both hesitant about it. Before either could do anything, they spotted darkness begin to surround Riku. It was also spreading to where they were standing.

Sora reached out to try to pull Riku out of the darkness, but he didn't notice the darkness begin to surround him too.

"Uh...." Kupo started. "S-Sora? The darkness is on you too....."

The boy glanced down. It was already around his arm. He couldn't see Riku any more. The darkness was becoming too much.

"Sora!" He heard Kupo shout.

Just as soon as the darkness came, it seeped back into the ground. But Riku was gone.

"Are you ok?" The girl asked.

"Yeah...." Sora said.

A few Shadows lurked behind them. There was nothing the two could do to defend themselves. Something suddenly appeared in their hands.

"Keyblade...." the voice said to Sora. And to Kupo it said, "Spike Blade...."

-------

Kupo looked down at her new weapon as the two ran along the beach. It was dark gray and could almost be a sword except of the fact that two spikes stuck out at either side at the end. Those two spikes both had one small circle cut out at the very edges of it. And the key chain at her end had a golden "K" attached to it.

Anyway, the two ran to the secret cave, but it had a door blocking it. They were confused by it, but opened it anyway.

They ran down the curved path and saw a person standing in front of the door. It was Kairi!

"Kairi!" Kupo called.

The girl turned around and looked at them with a dazed look. "Sora.....Kupo....."

The door suddenly opened and darkness spilled out of it, blowing Kairi right at the two teens. They tried to catch her, but she passed right through them. The force of the darkness was too much for the two teens and blew them out of the cave.

-------

When Kupo opened her eyes, she saw the most horrible sight she would probably ever see. Destiny Island was almost destroyed. All that was left was the small area of land she and Sora were on.

Something grabbed her and lifted her up. Its hand was big enough to wrap around the girl's whole body, so she had a clue who it was. She was right. The monster from her dream. It glared at her and threw her up into a dark ball above its head.

"Kupo!" Sora shouted.

"Sora!" She shouted back. "You can beat him!"

And everything went black.

-------

**A/N:** Yay a new chapter up, just for you guys! So what will happen next? Where will Kupo and Sora end up? And why am I asking you?!?! I dunno about the last one. Anywho, R&R to help me get the next chapter up soon and . Thank you! Oh and I also own the Spike Blade.


	3. The Journey Begins

A/N: I'm back, peoples!!! Yay! I'm hyper and ready to put out a chappie! So, with this extremely short author's note done, lets get on with the chapter!

Disclaimer: Still don't own KH, but I own Kupo and the Spike Blade.

Chapter 3

The Journey Begins

Everything was black and it felt like she was falling. She couldn't control it. She couldn't even move. A small light flashed nearby. It came closer and the girl could see people moving inside. It was like a TV, although it was her memory.

"Truth or dare?" Kairi asked.

"Lets see...." Kupo thought out loud. "Truth."

"Are you scared of the dark?"

Kupo hesitated. It was true. She was. But she didn't want Kairi to know. "No, I'm not. How about you?"

"Sometimes."

The light disappeared, leaving her lost in the dark. The girl continued falling.

"I am...." the girl said in response to the question.

"What have I told you?"

Kupo looked around quickly and noticed she was standing on a small platform with a spotlight shinning on her.

"The darkness will not hurt you as long as you stay strong," it was the voice again. "So don't be afraid."

"I'll try," Kupo said quietly.

The spotlight disappeared and she was falling again.

-------

Another girl looked around. She was at a huge castle with lots of little black creatures running around everywhere (it's Hallow Bastion, guys).

"Help us......" they kept crying silently. "Save us....."

"H-how can I hear you?" She asked as she stepped back.

"You can hear our thoughts...." a Shadow said in a dry voice.

"What's your name?" Another Shadow asked.

"S-Stephanie," the girl brushed some curly blonde hair from her face and stepped back.

She turned to run, but bumped into a Wyvern (I think that's what they're called). This one had blue skin and black wings, so it was very different from the normal red ones. The Shadows seemed frightened by the huge creature, so they turned and left. The other Wyverns didn't even come near either.

"Hop on," it said.

"What?" Stephanie asked. "Why?"

"I know where your friends are," it said. "I can take you to them."

The girl hesitantly got on and the Wyvern took off.

-------

"C'mon, Pluto!" The boy heard some one call.

"Goofy!" Somebody else shouted.

"Oh, comin', Donald!" Goofy called back.

The boy felt something wet on his face. He pushed something furry away. It came right back and he felt something wet again.

Sora opened his eyes and saw a dog sitting in front of him.

"What are you doing here, boy?" He asked the dog.

The animal turned and playfully ran away.

"Wait!" Sora called after him.

He rounded the corner and froze. The boy wasn't anywhere near home. In fact, he was in a whole new world! He walked out to the middle of the plaza and looked around. A small cafe was to his right and straight ahead was a large shop. Maybe he could find out where he was.

He walked inside and spotted a cashier.

"Um, excuse me," Sora said as the cashier turned to face him. The man had orange hair that stood on end.

"Yeah?" The man asked then paused. "Are you new around here? I haven't seen you before."

"I was just wondering where I am," Sora said.

"Uh oh," the man said. "Your world must've been destroyed."

"What do you mean?" Sora froze.

"When worlds are taken over by those small black creatures called Heartless, usually the world is destroyed," he explained. "And when that happens, only those with strong hearts survive and most come to Traverse Town. That's this place."

"What about my friends?" The boy asked. "Have you seen them? One's a boy and his name's Riku. He's one year older than me. Oh and there are two girls. One's Kairi and one's Kupo-"

"I'm sorry, kid, but I haven't seen any more new people here but you," he said. "By the way, my name's Cid. I'll help you any way I can."

"My name's Sora," the boy said. "Mind if I wait here to see if some of my friends show up?"

"Sure," Cid said. "I'll get you something to eat while you wait."

-------

Kupo felt wet all over. Her hair was even wet, but she was laying on something soft. A door opened and two people came in.

"I hope she's ok," a woman said.

"Me too," a man said. "She's been out for a long time."

"I wonder if her world was destroyed," the lady said. "She's new around her, I think."

What was that about her world being destroyed? The girl slightly tensed up.

She felt something wet on her face and turned her head.

"She moved!" The lady said.

Kupo opened her eyes and blinked a few times. Everything was a bit blurry, but that soon went away.

"Wh-where am I?" She asked as she sat up slowly. Two Dalmatians stood nearby along with a man and a woman.

"You're in Traverse Town," the lady said. "Are you ok?"

"I think so...." She said. "How did I get here?"

"We found you in the fountain a few hours ago," the man said.

"Traverse Town?" Kupo asked slowly. "That's where I am?"

The couple nodded and went about explaining how she probably got there.

"Have you seen anybody else new?" She asked.

"I've heard Cid found somebody new," the man said. "I don't know if that's your friend or not, but you can go check. Cid's shop is over in First District. You can ask directions there if you need to."

"Thanks!" Kupo called over her shoulder as she ran out of the house.

Second District had a lot of shops, but the girl didn't stop to look at any of them. She had to find First District fast.

-------

Sora had done a lot of exploring in First District and decided to move on to Second District. But he had a feeling a few people were looking for him. He spotted a long building that had a hotel sign on it.

_That might be where they are!_ He thought excitedly.

As he went in, Donald and Goofy entered Second District. They looked around for a second and sighed.

"They're not here either," Donald complained.

"Wait!" Goofy pointed. "Who's that?"

-------

**A/N: **Ok, guys, I'll leave you hangin' with a little cliffy! Don't worry, though, I'll try to update soon, so don't flame me about how you hate cliffies!!! And now, who's Goofy talking about? And can Stephanie trust her new friend the Wyvern? R&R.


	4. New Friends

A/N: Yay an update! Pretty soon too. I'm glad you guys liked the last chapter. I feel so loved! (everybody backs away) Ok I'm done. R&R and happy (way early) Valentine's Day!

Disclaimer: And I still continue not owning KH and yet owning Kupo.

Chapter 4

New Friends

"Wait!" Goofy pointed. "Who's that?"

"Who?" Donald asked.

"Her," Goofy motioned towards a girl who was fighting off a group of Shadows.

Donald turned to look and his eyes almost popped out of his head. "That's the Spike Blade bearer!"

"She is?"

"Yes!" Donald said. "See her weapon?"

Goofy studied it for a second. "Gawrsh. Maybe we should go help her."

"Good idea!" Donald agreed as the two ran down the steps to help.

When they got down there, the girl had already fought off the Shadows and was walking over to the stairs.

"Where'd you get that?" Goofy asked.

"Goofy!" Donald jabbed him with his elbow.

"Oh this?" Kupo held out the Spike Blade. "It, uh, just found me."

"You're the one we're looking for!" Goofy smiled and earned another jab from Donald. "What?"

"Uh, would you guys mind explaining?" Kupo asked as she put her weapon away.

Donald sighed and began, "It all started when the Heartless started destroying worlds. When that happened, the Keyblade and the Spike Blade were created for the two people who would conquer the darkness. The weapons chose their masters and you're one of 'em."

"Ok..." the girl said a little uncertainly.

"And our king went to check out what was wrong with the worlds," Goofy continued. "He told us to find you and the guy with the Keyblade."

"Sora..." She muttered.

"What?" Donald asked.

"Sora," she repeated. "He has the Keyblade. He's one of my best friends!"

"We better go find him," Goofy said as the three began their search.

-

"So they weren't in the hotel..." Sora complained. "They _have_ to be nearby."

The boy walked back to First District and was about to walk out to the plaza when he heard a voice.

"So you're the one."

Sora turned and drew his Keyblade. "Who are you?"

"Never mind that," the man stepped out into the light. He had dark brown hair that went down to his shoulders and wore all black. "Now lets see that Keyblade."

"Huh?" The boy glanced at it then looked back at the man. "You'll never get it! Never!"

"Then I guess I'll have to take it the hard way," the man said as he drew his sword.

The man lunged at Sora, but the boy jumped to one side and hit his back. The man whirled around and hit the boy hard. Sora winced in pain, but managed to dodge a fireball.

_How'd he do that?_ The boy thought as he hit the man three times.

The man jumped away from Sora, then sliced the boy three more times.

Sora felt weak. His legs were about to give out from under him, but he managed one more hit before he collapsed.

"Is this him?" A girl asked as she walked up to the man.

"Yes," he said. "We have to get him to safety before the Heartless attack."

"Right," she said.

-

Kupo, along with her two new friends, Donald and Goofy, opened the doors to the Gizmo shop. Everything seemed normal and Sora wasn't there, so the trio was about to turn back when they heard some one or something.

"Help..." It said weakly. "Please...anybody..."

"Did ya hear that?" Goofy asked.

"Yeah," Kupo said. "Lets go see what it is."

"No way!" Donald said. "We have to find-"

But Kupo and Goofy weren't listening. They had already ran around the corner. Donald sighed and followed. As he rounded the corner, he saw Kupo kneeling there with something in her arms. Goofy was standing beside her with a worried expression on his face.

"You poor, poor thing..." Kupo said.

Donald's face flashed a worried look, but then regained composure. "What is-"

As he peered over Kupo's shoulder he saw a small little creature who had been hurt badly. It had a large red nose and a red thingy on it's head.

"I'll bet the Heartless did this," Goofy said.

"Me too," Kupo said. Donald could hear the rage in her voice, but he had no idea what that meant or how strong she could get when she was like this.

Before anybody could say anything else, a dozen Heartless surrounded them. Six Shadows and six Soldiers.

Kupo set the little creature down and pulled out her Spike Blade. She didn't say anything. She barely even moved, but the Heartless were killed and she was on the other side of the room.

-

"So how do you know where my friends are?" Stephanie asked the Wyvern.

"I can feel it." He said.

"Oh." The girl watched a spooky looking world go by. "So what's your name?"

"Blue Light," he said.

"Well, mine's Stephanie," she said. "How come you're not like the other Heartless?"

"I've seen what they do to innocent people and animals," he said. "They take their hearts so that they might become what they were before. But I still have a heart. I don't know why I'm like this, though."

"I really feel sorry for you," Steph said. "But thanks a lot for taking me to my friends."

Blue Light smiled as they continued they're way to Traverse Town.

-

"I still can't believe you took out all those Heartless like that," Goofy said as the three made their way down the ally.

"That's just how I am when I'm mad," she said, then added, "You can ask my friends." But that thought made her silent. _Will I ever see my friends again?_

"Well, this place sure is spooky," Goofy commented.

"I'm not scared!" Donald said, but soon changed his mind when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He let out a yell and jumped in front of the group.

Kupo and Goofy turned to see a lady dressed in a pink dress smiling at them.

-

"Are you ok?" Kairi asked. "Sora?"

"Kairi?" Sora opened his eyes.

"Who's Kairi?" She asked. "I'm the great ninja Yuffie!"

Where Kairi once stood, was another girl. She had dark hair and wore tan shorts, a green shirt, and a band around her head. She looked over at the man Sora had fought earlier and said, "I think you hit him too hard, Leon."

"The Keyblade..." Sora noticed Leon was holding it.

"Yeah..." Yuffie said. "We had to get it away from you to shake off those creatures. It turns out, that's how they were tracking you."

"Still...hard to believe," Leon said, "that you, of all people, are the chosen one." The Keyblade teleported back to Sora as Leon continued, "Oh well. Beggars can't be choosers. And we still haven't found the bearer of the Spike Blade."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sora asked. "What's going on here!"

-

"Ok," Aerith (the lady in pink) said, "so you know there are other worlds besides your castle, your island, and this town, right?"

"My friends and I had made a plan to find other worlds..." Kupo said quietly.

"Yeah, we know," Donald said.

"But they're supposed to be a secret!" Goofy added.

"They're been secret, because they've never been connected until now," Aerith said. "When the Heartless came, everything changed..."

-

"The Heartless?" Sora questioned.

"The ones that attacked you, remember?" Yuffie reminded him.

"Those without hearts..." Leon said.

"The darkness in hearts," Yuffie said. "That's what attracts them."

"And there's darkness within every heart," Leon added.

"Hey," Yuffie changed the subject, "have you heard of Ansem?"

-

"Ansem?" Kupo asked.

"He was studying the Heartless," Aerith explained. "He left his findings in a very detailed report."

"Gawrsh, uh," Goofy said hesitantly, "can we see it?"

"Its pages are scattered everywhere," Aerith said.

"Scattered?" Kupo asked.

"To many worlds..." she sounded somewhat sad as she said that.

"Oh!" Goofy had a thought. "I betcha the king went to find 'em!"

"Those were my thoughts exactly," she brightened up.

"Then we better find him," Goofy said, then added, "QUICK!"

"Wait!" Donald shouted. "First we need that 'key'!"

"Yeah, the Keyblade..." Kupo said.

-

"So..." Sora said, trying to get it all straight. "This is the 'key'..."

"Exactly!" The hyper ninja said happily.

"The Heartless have great fear of the Keyblade and Spike Blade," Leon explained. "That's why they'll keep coming after you, no matter what."

"But how did this all happen?" Sora asked. He was getting confused. "I remember being in my room... What happened to my home! My island! Riku! Kupo! Kairi..."

"You know what?" Leon said. "I really don't know..."

Suddenly a Soldier appeared in the room. Sora jumped up and Leon drew his sword.

"Sora, run!" he ordered. "I'll take care of this one. Find the Spike Blade bearer!"

The boy nodded and threw open the door that led to the next hotel room. The door slammed open on something, but he didn't pay attention because of who he saw sitting on a bed.

"Kupo!" Sora exclaimed.

"Sora!" Kupo jumped up.

-

**A/N:** There. I hope that'll satisfy you for now. But I'd like to thank Sailorstar165 for helping me a lot on the lines. Please R&R and have a nice day! Oh, and IT SNOWED HERE TODAY! I'm soooo happy!


	5. Reunited

A/N: Hi, there, guys! I'm so sorry for not updating lately, but things have been pretty busy around my house. I'm glad ya'll liked "Therapy for Ansem!". So, on with the fic!

Disclaimer: I'll never own Kingdom Hearts, but I'll always own Kupo and the Spike Blade...and my heart...(shifty eyes)

Chapter 5

Reunited

"Kupo!"

"Sora!"

The two seemed frozen with excitement. Neither said another word, but were interrupted by Leon. "What's the problem, Sora? _Go!_"

The boy glanced back, but only for a second. He rushed ahead, grabbed Kupo by the arm, and started half-dragging her out of the room.

"Wait!" The girl jerked her arm back and picked up the injured creature she had been keeping. "Ok, now I'm ready."

Sora didn't question how she got the poor creature, but instead ran on ahead to clear away any Heartless. As soon as he had jumped off the balcony, sounds of metal ripping into Heartless flesh filled the air.

"Take good care of him," Kupo handed the small creature to Aerith and jumped off the balcony too.

"Good luck..." Aerith said and glanced down at the body in her arms.

Leon and Yuffie rushed in the room and slammed the door shut. Goofy peeled Donald off the wall carefully while the two grabbed Aerith and ran.

"You ok, Donald?" Goofy asked.

"Do I look ok!" Donald asked angrily.

"Well, you're real flat, but other than that, you look ok," Goofy commented as Donald became 3-D again.

"You lost Kupo!" The duck yelled angrily.

"No, I didn't," Goofy said calmly. "She's right out there!" He jabbed a thumb towards the balcony.

The two stepped out on the balcony, but couldn't see her anywhere.

"Sure..." the duck commented sarcastically, "you didn't loose her..."

* * *

The blonde haired girl spotted another world go by. This one looked like a jungle. She sure hoped she wouldn't have to go there. She always had liked to see jungles, but she never wanted to go to one.

"Blue Light, how far are we from where ever my friends are?" Stephanie asked.

"Not far now," he responded.

"Do you know what world they're on?" She asked.

"No, but I can sense them and they're close," he said while dodging a meteor.

"This is kind'a like a story my Mom used to tell me..." the girl sighed. "A girl befriending a wolf that no other animal would come near. All it needed was a friend..."

The Wyvern seemed glad to have her company since he had nobody else to talk to. Stephanie sensed that and was glad to have his company too. Her fears and uneasiness had faded away a long time ago. She knew he wouldn't harm her. This day dreamy feeling was interrupted by her asking, "Are they on that world?"

"No," Blue Light said.

The girl watched the simi-normal looking world go by. She might like to go there sometime.

* * *

"Where are we going?" Kupo followed closely behind Sora.

"I'm not sure," was his response as he killed another Heartless, "but we'll know it when we get there."

"Don't bother with the small fry!" The two heard a voice call out. They glanced around and saw Leon. "Hurry up!"

The two obeyed and ignored the remaining Heartless. They rounded a corner in second district, but were stopped by a blockade of Shadows. There had to be dozens!

"What are we looking for?" Kupo asked as the duo hacked away at the blockade.

"The leader," Sora answered. "That's all Leon would tell me."

Kupo didn't have time to ask any more questions. Three Heartless jumped her from behind and took her down. A pool of darkness began to form beneath her, but suddenly disappeared as the load on her back lifted.

Sora stood over her with the Keyblade ready for another attack.

"Thanks," the girl jumped up.

"No problem," he said and charged the few remaining Shadows.

She followed and the few enemies were easily taken care of.

The two smiled happily and looked ahead. A huge door with the title "Third District" loomed a few feet away. The smiles of joy faded. They were both thinking the same thing. The "leader", as Leon called it, would probably be in there.

"Ready?" Sora asked.

"Yeah," the girl nodded.

It wasn't really _that_ big of deal, but Sora felt it was his duty to keep his only remaining friend safe. Who knew if Riku and Kairi even made it? If they didn't and he didn't take care of Kupo, he wouldn't have any friends left. He wouldn't let that ever happen.

Kupo observed Sora thinking about what to do next and rolled her eyes. She wasn't gonna be a damsel in distress or a wimp. That wasn't in her nature.

"Come _on_, Sora!" She said impatiently. "We haven't got all day!"

The girl walked up to the doors and shoved them open revealing, not the monster they had thought would be waiting, but nothing. This seemed odd to them as they cautiously made their way into Third District.

The duo peered over the edge of the high platform they were standing on and still didn't see any Heartless. Just a bunch of empty space surrounded by high platforms and one small fountain in a corner.

"Where's the bad guys?" Kupo asked, upset that nothing had been waiting for them. "Where's the secret door that leads to the bad guys!"

"Chill," Sora said. "I'm not so sure about this..."

Kupo rolled her eyes and began her way down the ramp. "What's not to be sure about?"

"Wait!" The boy ran after his friend, who was already down the ramp. "We need to be kind'a careful!"

"What's there to be careful about!" Kupo made her way out into the open and shouted, "THERE AREN'T ANY HEARTLESS HERE!"

Small pools of darkness began to form and out came a bunch of Shadows and Soldiers.

"See?" Sora glared at his friend.

"Eheheheh..."

* * *

"There she is!" Donald exclaimed.

Donald and Goofy stood on a very high platform that looked down over Third District. From there the two could see Kupo, some boy, and a bunch of Heartless.

"Looks like they're in trouble!" Goofy pointed out.

"We better help her," Donald said, but before either could say anything, a few Shadows appeared on either side of the two. "C'mon, Goofy, let's get 'em!"

But neither could attack before they were thrown off their platform.

"Watch out!" Donald yelled.

"Help!" Goofy yelled as well.

Kupo and the boy looked up to see a duck and a dog-thing falling from the sky.

"Run!" Sora urged.

The two ran a few steps, but Donald and Goofy landed on them with a thud. Every one moaned a bit, but the two who had fell shouted, "The Keyblade!"

"Get off!" The boy ordered.

"Please!" Kupo added.

Everybody was back on their feet, but nobody had time to introduce themselves because the Heartless that had waited ever so patiently finally attacked.

With four people instead of two, it didn't take as long to finish off the Heartless. The four hacked, sliced, hit, and banged their way through the Shadows and Soldiers.

"What a rip off!" Kupo said once they were through.

Donald ignored her and started to introduce himself. "My name is-"

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The four searched for the source of the banging and found a pile of metal that hadn't been there before.

Two pieces that looked like feet floated about one foot above the ground and another piece floated up above them. Two other pieces floated up to the sides of the main piece. Those must've been arms. And last, a smaller round piece fell from the sky and landed on top of the main piece.

"Well, Kupo," Sora said, "I hope _this_ isn't a rip off..."

The huge metal monster loomed ahead and the four knew it wasn't there to help them out.

* * *

**A/N:** Yay! Yet another chappie! Hey...I don't think I told you guys how to pronounce Kupo's name! So here it is: KOO-poe. Read it like you would in a dictionary. Well, that's all I gotta say! Review and I'll try to update ASAP. 


	6. Metal Monster

A/N: I feel so guilty! I told all you patient fans out there that I would update ASAP, but I didn't! I feel terrible about that...But this chappie is gonna have a cool fighting scene in it, so I hope it's worth the wait. And now, for your reading pleasure, I present to you...Be Strong!

Disclaimer: As much as I want to say I own Kingdom Hearts, I can't say that because I don't own it and I would be lying to you. But I can say truthfully that I own Kupo and the Spike Blade.

Chapter 6.  
Metal Monster

"Well, Kupo, I hope _this_ isn't a rip off," Sora said to his friend.

The huge metal monster loomed over them with hatred in its eyes. The four knew it wasn't there to help out on their mission.

"Get ready," Donald said as he drew out his weapon. The other three followed his lead and drew their weapons as well.

The metal monster decided to make the first move, so it started spinning its arms around its body. The sharp metal claws at the end of its hands were extended and ready to slice whatever got in its way.

"Look out!" Goofy called as he raised up his shield.

The three with out shields ran back from the monster. The sound of metal hitting metal echoed through the air as Goofy's shield and the monster's claws collided.

The monster stopped spinning its arms and glared down at the obstacle in its path. Goofy was about to turn and run when Kupo, Donald, and Sora attacked from behind. The metal monster was so surprised that it fell apart.

"I guess that's that!" Kupo said and stepped up onto its head.

"I'm not so sure," Sora said uncertainly. "And get off that thing! It can't be dead yet!"

"It sure looks dead to me," Goofy spoke on Kupo's behalf.

"That doesn't mean a thing!" Donald argued. "You thought that squirrel was dead when it was just asleep!"

While those two were arguing about whether the squirrel was dead or not, the metal thing began to shake. Kupo looked down at it uneasily and began to make her way off it, but was too late. The monster rose and the parts flew to their correct spot.

"Help me, you guys!" Kupo shouted as she held onto the monster's round head.

"Kupo!" Sora shouted.

The girl looked down at the main part of the body and saw that it was pretty much hollow. If she fell, she would probably be stuck there.

_Oh man...How come I had to act so darn brave!_ She thought as she tried to grip the head tighter.

"We'll get you down, don't worry!" The boy called.

The boy, Donald, and Goofy rushed up to the monster and began hacking away at its metal body. Donald even used a fire attack and melted a hole in its leg.

"How'd you do that?" Sora asked as he swung the Keyblade at the body.

"I'll show you later," Donald said and fired another fire attack.

The metal monster shook its head and Kupo could feel her grip slipping. One more head shake and she would fall.

The monster started spinning its arms around its body again. Donald and Sora once again ran back while Goofy blocked the attack with his shield. The two ran around to its back again, but the monster had learned from last time.

It whirled its head around and stopped spinning its arms. It lifted a foot and kicked at the two. They dodged and ran in for an attack. The monster shook its head as the three worked away at it. But that one shake was enough to make Kupo fall.

"Help!" She cried as she fell into the main body.

"She fell in!" Sora shouted in dismay.

"We'll get her," Donald said and blasted a fire attack at it. "But we have to defeat this monster first."

The boy nodded and hit the monster extra hard. No way he'd loose another friend.

* * *

"We're almost there. I can feel it."

"Really?" Stephanie asked.

"I'm positive," the Wyvern said.

Stephanie smiled at the thought of finally seeing Kairi, Kupo, Sora, and Riku. It would be great to see some friendly faces.

"I hope they all made it," she said happily.

"I only sense two where we're going," Blue Light said.

This news hurt the girl quite a bit even though she had never been too close to them. They talked some and seen each other on the beaches, but that was it.

_I wonder who didn't make it... _She thought. Her happiness had melted away and now she was upset all over again.

"I'm sorry I told you," Blue Light said quietly. "I shouldn't have said anything."

"That's ok," the girl said. "I'm glad you told me. Now I can prepare for the worst..."

But it wasn't ok.

* * *

Kupo landed hard on her back. It was so dark. She was afraid of the dark. Her only light shone down dimly around the metal monster's head. It was hollow just like she figured and it was also cold.

"This is how Heartless must feel," she said as she wrapped her arms around herself. "Cold and dark."

The sound of metal hitting metal echoed around her. She could feel the vibrations of each hit beneath her feet. Hopefully, Sora was winning.

She stood in the dim light with her arms wrapped around herself listening as the battle raged on outside. The monster lurched forward and sent her flying to the front of its hollow body.

"Watch it!" She shouted. The girl was about to say something else when something cold and scaly touched her leg. She screamed and drew her leg back.

_Please, Sora, hurry and get me outta here!_ She thought as she drew her Spike Blade and prepared to battle whatever is was in there with her.

* * *

Sora was sent flying when the monster kicked him. He slammed against he wall and almost fell unconscious. The boy sat up when he heard Goofy running to him.

"Here, drink this," Goofy said and handed him a small bottle of liquid. "It's a Potion."

Sora obeyed and gulped it down. Immediately, he felt like he could continue fighting. He got up and followed Goofy back to the battlefield where Donald was having a tough time holding off the monster by himself.

The monster lowered its hand to swat Donald away, but Sora attacked it with his Keyblade. The hand fell to the ground a disappeared just as Goofy took out its leg.

"Thanks," Donald said gratefully as he blasted a fireball at the main body.

"No problem," the boy said and began hitting the other leg.

* * *

"Ah! Get away!" Kupo cried as she swung her Spike Blade at the darkness. She knew there were Shadows in there with her because they kept touching her arms.

She swung her Spike Blade again and hit something! The Shadow withered in pain and sank back into the floor of the body.

"Take that!" She shouted triumphantly.

She flew up in the air a few inches as the monster fell to the ground. A small ray of light shone through a crack in the monster's belly. The crack became bigger and bigger and suddenly the body disappeared. She was free!

"Kupo!" Sora cried and rushed over to help her up.

"Thank you so much, guys!" Kupo exclaimed as she gave her friend a big hug.

Goofy smiled as the two walked over to the friends. "Are you ok, Kupo?"

"I'm fine," she said. "Thanks."

"How does he know your name?" Sora asked.

"We met as she was fighting some Heartless," Donald said. "My name is Donald and this is Goofy."

"Glad to meet you," Sora said. "My name's Sora."

"They're gonna help us find Riku and Kairi if we help them find their king," Kupo said, but her smile disappeared when she mentioned her friends. Sora's smile also faded quickly at the sound of their names.

"Now in order for you to come along with us, I'll have to make one thing clear to you two," Donald said as he crossed his arms. "There will be _no_ frowning allowed on the mission."

"C'mon and give us a big smile," Goofy urged.

Sora and Kupo looked at each other then at the two and attempted a big happy smile, even though they weren't happy. Donald and Goofy fell over while laughing at the two. This made them smile for real and even laugh.

"Now that we have that taken care of, we can go board the Gummy Ship!" Donald announced.

"What's a Gummy Ship?" The two friends asked.

"You'll see," Goofy said and the four began to make their way out of Third District.

* * *

**A/N:** About time I updated, huh? I hope you guys liked this chapter as much as you have the others. I really appreciate all the reviews you guys give me. They put a smile on my face when I read them. Thanks again and be sure to review! 


	7. Meet Gizmo

A/N: Yet another slooooooooow update. But! I've got an excuse for it (don't I always?)! I've been takin' Driver's Ed in the mornings, so that's half of my day already gone! Yeah...well, with school out, and all, I should be able to update a bit faster. Please enjoy!

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts still doesn't belong to me, Kupo and the Spike Blade always will.

Chapter 7  
Meet Gizmo

The group of four made their way out of Third District and into Second. They were all ready for a dozen Shadows and Soldiers to pop up out of the ground, but they never did.

"Where's some action?" Kupo questioned the silence.

"After what you've been through," Sora said, "I'd think you've had enough action for one day."

"Enough action?" Kupo repeated. "Think of who you're talking about!"

The two continued teasing each other as the small group walked up to the First District doors. As they opened it and entered First District, they could see a few people milling about in the plaza below.

"Looks like after we destroyed that metal guy things went back to normal," Goofy commented.

"Yeah," Donald agreed. "I'm glad things are back to normal now!"

Sora nodded in agreement as they walked down the stairs. "Maybe you guys can find your king soon."

"And you can find your friends," Goofy added.

"I hope so..." Kupo said as she glanced up at the stars.

* * *

"Look!" The girl shouted and pointed ahead.

The Wyvern started slowing down and made a graceful landing. The girl jumped off and looked around. A bunch of high platforms surrounded them and stairs even went up a few. And in one corner was a small golden fountain quietly gurgling the water out into the small fountain.

"Great!" She shouted. "I'm thirsty!"

Stephanie ran over to the fountain and pulled her blonde hair out of her face as she cupped some water in her hands and sipped it.

"Your friends are on this planet," Blue Light said. "They're leaving, so we had better hurry and find them."

"Where are they going?" She asked as she ran over to her Heartless friend.

"I'm not sure, but we'll follow them," he said.

Stephanie nodded and began leading the way up the stairs.

* * *

"And you _have_ to be safe!" Yuffie ordered.

"Ok, ok!" Sora held up his hands defensively.

"And bring me back something cool," her voice softened from the order.

Kupo shook her head at Sora's predicament and looked back to Aerith. "So, anything you wanna order me to do...?"

"Take care of this little guy," Aerith held out the small creature Kupo had saved earlier.

"I will," the girl delicately took the small creature. It was amazing how the girl could be so rough one minute and so gentle the next.

"We haven't got all day!" Donald complained. "Lets hurry and board the Gummy Ship!"

"What's the hurry?" Kupo asked as she followed after the duck.

"He's always like this," Goofy explained apologetically. "You'll get used to him."

"Yeah, right!" Sora grumbled.

The group of four left Traverse Town for their next destination, but when they did, the three left behind heard a girl shouting at them.

"Where are Kupo and Sora?" She shouted from the platform above. Her voice was shrill and her eyes were desperate.

"They left just now," Yuffie said as she drew back a bit from being caught off guard.

"Who are you?" Leon questioned.

The blonde haired girl hesitated for a moment, not sure whether to answer or not. "Where did they go?"

"Answer my question first!" Leon growled.

Aerith jabbed him with her elbow and looked up at the girl with kind eyes. "I don't know which way your friends went, but if you leave now, you can probably catch up with them."

"Thanks," the girl smiled and climbed on something behind her. The next thing the three saw was her riding on some flying creature with a big heart on its chest.

"A Heartless!" Yuffie cried. "She's gonna destroy them!"

* * *

"Please?"

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"No!"

"Why?

"Because you'll crash!" Donald cried. "Now get out of my face!"

Sora stepped back looking disappointed. He had wanted to fly the Gummy Ship at least part of the way to...where ever they were going, but Donald shot the idea down.

_Party-pooper..._ Sora's thoughts grumbled.

"Gawrsh, Donald, can't he even try?" Goofy asked, trying to help his new friend.

"NO!" The duck shouted with annoyance.

Sora frowned and sat down in the back of the ship, grumbling quietly to himself. He soon stopped grumbling and started watching Kupo care for the injured creature. She could change moods in a heartbeat and he had experienced that a long time ago.

: Flash back :

"You might as well tell her," the six-year-old Riku said.

"But I can't!" Five-year-old Sora cried. "I was s'possed to get her somethin' for her birthday and I forgot!"

"You can't say I didn't try to help you get somethin'," Riku said smugly, glad that Kupo wouldn't blow up at him like she would at Sora.

Sora took a deep breath and let it out. "Ok, I'll tell her."

The boy walked around the table and tapped Kupo on the shoulder. She turned and smiled. One of her front teeth had fallen out the day before and Sora could still remember how cute she looked.

"What's up?" She asked as she adjusted her party hat.

"I..." Sora took a deep breath, "I forgot to get you somethin' for y-your birthday..."

The cute smiled faded faster than you could say "Cake". She frowned and glared at Sora. The boy stepped back and looked back for the door.

"How could you forget!" Kupo shouted and started chasing him.

Sora dashed outside and ran along the beach side. He happened to glance down and see a very pretty seashell sparkling in the sun. The boy stopped and grabbed it.

The angry girl ran into his back and the two went tumbling along the seaside. When they stopped, Kupo was on top. "I can't believe-"

"Here!" Sora held up the shiny shell and prepared to get smacked.

"It's so pretty!" She cried. "Thank you!"

"I guess you managed to avoid gettin' hurt this time," Riku snickered as the two got up and they all made their way back to the house.

: End flash back :

"Sora, can you get a potion?" The boy heard his friend ask.

"Ok," he said and reached in his pocket. He _knew_ he found one after the battle with the huge metal Heartless. "Here."

"Thanks," Kupo took it and put some in the small creature's mouth. Sora hadn't noticed, but its eyes were open and it was drinking the potion.

"We're almost there!" Donald announced.

"Wh-where am I?" The small creature asked.

"You're on a Gummy Ship," Kupo explained. "And my name's Kupo. That's Sora, Donald, and Goofy."

"I'm a Moogle," the Moogle said. "How did I get here?"

Kupo went on to explain how he got on the Gummy ship and how she saved him. Sora also got in on describing the battle.

"Is your name Moogle?" The boy asked.

"No, that's just what I am," he paused. "I don't have a name..."

Kupo fell silent for a minute before she smiled and exclaimed, "We can call you Gizmo since I found you in the Gizmo shop!"

Before the Moogle could say anything about his new name, Donald cried out, "We're here!"

* * *

**A/N:** Ok, so now you guys have met Gizmo! I'm very happy with his name. So, uh, I guess that's pretty much it. Review and I'll try my best to get the next chappie out soon! 


	8. The Coliseum

A/N: Hmmmm...so much for a quick update, but please don't blame me! It's almost my birthday! I'll be fifteen (hurray!). I don't know what that has to do with anything, but it must have something to do with it! Yes, I'm hyper and I'm rambling on about...nothing...Ok! I'll shut up now.

Disclaimer: (sigh) If I've said it once I've said it a million times...I don't own Kingdom Hearts, but I own Kupo and the Spike Blade. There!

Chapter 8

The Coliseum

"We're here!" Donald cried from the cockpit.

"I could've got us here faster if you had let me drive," Sora commented.

"Yeah, we might've got here faster," Kupo agreed, "but we'd have got here in a million tiny pieces!"

Gizmo laughed as Sora scowled and crossed his arms.

Donald chuckled as he pushed a small blue button next to the door. With a small "whoosh", the door opened to reveal a pair of huge golden doors.

"Whoa, talk about spending a ton of money on a pair of doors..." Kupo stared up at them as the small group approached.

The five began shoving on the doors, but, much to their surprise, the huge golden doors opened easily. The surprised group slowly walked through the doors and looked around at the Coliseum.

On their end, there were about four posts that were each made of gold. There were some stairs that were golden, but the floor was made of sand. There were a few torches lined up on either side of them and on the wall to their right was the line-up for the Tournament.

The other end of the Coliseum was pretty much the same, but there was no Tournament line-up. Instead, there were two huge, golden statues of a very muscular man.

"I feel very out of place..." Kupo commented as she glanced up at the line-up.

"Me too," Gizmo agreed. "And I've never seen this many golden things in one place."

The other four nodded as they made their way to another pair of golden doors. These opened just as easily as the first pair.

Inside, they found more golden things and a funny looking man that was shorter than Sora and Kupo. But it wasn't his size that made him look funny. It was the fact that he had goat legs instead of human legs and little goat horns on his head.

"Um..." Sora started, but was cut off by the little goat man.

"Great timing!" He said while messing with a rule board. He didn't even look back to see who he was talking to. "Gimme a hand here! Move that pedestal over there for me. I need to get this place spruced up for the Games!"

Sora and Kupo looked at each other and shrugged. The two walked over to the pedestal and began shoving. Unfortunately, it didn't move as easily as the pairs of doors.

"It's way too heavy!" Sora gave it one last shove and gave up.

"What's it made of!" Kupo also gave it one more shove and gave up.

"What! Too heavy?" The little goat man exclaimed. "Since when have you been such a little-" he cut himself off when he turned to face the two. "Oh...wrong guy."

"Who are you callin' a guy, shorty!" Kupo shouted.

The man backed off a bit, but continued anyway, "What are you kids doing here? This is the world famous Coliseum!" He paused then added quickly, "Heroes only!"

"But you've got heroes standing right in front of you!" Donald exclaimed.

"Yeah! Sora and Kupo are real heroes chosen by the Keyblade and the Spike Blade!" Goofy added.

Sora and Kupo smiled proudly at the thought of being called heroes.

"And we're heroes too!" Donald quickly added, being careful not to forget himself and Goofy.

The goat man seemed to look at Kupo and Sora with a critical eye, but that was all stopped when he started laughing. "Heroes? Those runts?" He slapped his knee and began laughing harder.

The proud smiles on the two friend's faces disappeared and were replaced with looks of frustration.

"Hey, back off buddy!" Sora commanded.

The goat man wiped away a tear from one eye and walked over to the pedestal. "Look, if you guys can't even move this pedestal," he began trying to push it, "you can't call yourselves," he started pushing it so hard his face turned red, "heroes!"

The poor little goat man finally collapsed to the ground and tried to catch his breath. He looked up at the two friends to see them smirking down at him.

"All right!" He said and pushed himself back up. "So it takes more than brawn. Well, lets see what you two can do."

Kupo looked at Sora and the two shrugged. Was he really gonna let them compete in the Games? That's what it looked like to them.

"Follow me," the little man said and motioned for them to follow him.

He led the five down a dark hall way and into a large arena. There were barrels everywhere! Barrels were on top of platforms, on the ground, under a few things, and crowded together.

"Wow..." Gizmo said. "That's a lot of barrels..."

"Yeah," Kupo agreed.

"This is called the barrel challenge," the goat man explained.

"I wonder why," Sora whispered to Kupo and made her giggle.

"What you do here is break all the barrels in the least amount of time," he continued. "Go ahead and decide who's first. I'll time you when you're ready."

Kupo looked at Sora and Sora looked at Kupo. The girl smiled and quickly stepped behind the boy and shoved him towards the goat man.

"Hey!" Sora glared back at his friend as she put on an innocent smile.

"Ok! On my count," the goat man said. Sora looked back to the arena and waited for the man to start counting. "One...two...three!"

Sora rushed forward and pulled out the Keyblade. He quickly took care of the first barrel and rushed to the second. After finishing off that one, he grabbed the top of a platform and pulled himself up. It was only now that he noticed his friends were cheering for him.

The boy flashed them a quick smile and began hacking away at the small group of barrels. It took him about thirty seconds there before he could move up to the next platform. He finally made it to the last barrel and chopped it up quickly.

He smiled at his friends only to realize that they weren't cheering for him, they were shouting something at him! The boy strained his ears to hear what they were saying and finally realized that he had forgotten a barrel on the ground!

"Darn it!" Sora said to himself as he quickly made his way down the platforms and to the ground. He spotted the "enemy" in no time and took care of it.

"Your time is..." the goat man studied the clock. "Five minutes and sixteen seconds!"

Sora scowled at himself for forgetting a barrel and costing him a lot of time. Kupo would probably beat his time easily...

"Next!" The man said as he cleared Sora's time.

Kupo walked forward and glanced down at the little man.

"On my count," he said and got the clock ready. "One...two...three!"

Kupo made a dash for the barrel Sora had missed when he tried his luck on the challenge. She took care of it in a few swings of her Spike Blade and was off to take care of the next target. As soon as she had destroyed all the barrels on the ground, she headed for the platform.

The girl hoisted herself up onto the platform and swung her weapon at the first barrel. One of the spikes on it got stuck in the side of the barrel and she realized this when she tried to pull the Spike Blade back.

She put her foot on one side of the barrel and yanked her weapon back, also kicking the barrel off the edge and destroying it at the same time. The girl stood there for a second before turning to the other barrels and breaking them as well.

The girl had no more difficulties after she got her weapon free and it only took her a few more seconds to chop up the rest of the barrels.

Kupo walked back to the goat man and looked at him expectantly.

The little man looked down at his clock. "Four minutes and fifty-seven seconds!"

"Good job, Kupo," Sora smiled and shook his friend's hand.

"Thanks," she smiled. "You did good too."

"Blah, blah, blah," the man interrupted. "Hurry up and follow me!"

The little goat man led the five back down the hallway and back into the lobby where Sora immediately asked this question, "Can we compete in the Games now?"

"No," the man said plainly.

"Why not!" Kupo exclaimed.

"I've told you before," he said. "It for _heroes_ only and you five are _not_ heroes!"

"Oh, what do you know?" Donald said and walked up to Sora and Kupo. "C'mon. We can't waist all our time here."

Kupo cast the little goat man one last glare over her shoulder, but he wasn't looking. Sora crossed his arms in frustration as Donald and Goofy led the way back to the Gummy Ship.

* * *

**A/N:** And there you have it! Another wonderful chapter by yours truly. I don't have much time to type out an ending author's note because I've gotta go eat supper. But reviews are always welcome and you can make 'em as long as you want! Isn't that right, xXHeroine of TimeXx? Oh, and thanks again to Sailorstar165 for helping me on the lines! 


	9. Wonderland

A/N: And here I am, yet again! I hope ya'll are enjoying it. I'm really having a good time writing it. Oh, and by the way, my b-day was on the 18th and I'm now a 15 year old with her permit! I got it on my b-day and I'm having sooo much fun driving! All right, that's enough of that. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Read the disclaimer from the last eight chapters please and thank you.

Chapter 9  
Wonderland

"I can't believe that stupid goat guy wouldn't let us compete..." Sora grumbled.

"He doesn't know what incredible fighters he let slip through his grasp," Gizmo offered.

"I guess he's right," Kupo agreed. "I just hate the fact that he didn't believe we were heroes."

"It's all right," Goofy said and patted the two on their backs. "Maybe when you get a little more experience he'll let you compete."

"I hope," Sora said with a sigh.

* * *

"Those are some huge doors..."

The blonde girl reached forward and pushed them open. Her jaw soon dropped as she saw all the gold and huge pillars and everything.

"Are you sure my friends were here?" She asked as she looked around.

"I'm sure," Blue Light said as he hovered over the ground. He quietly watched as Stephanie began to walk down the stairs and he soon followed.

The sun shone down harshly on the girl and her friend as they made their way across the hot sand. The two quickly made it to the other pair of doors and pushed them opened.

There was no one in the small room. A medium sized pedestal stood on one side of the room and a couple of torches lit up the room.

"Um, hello?" She called hesitantly. "Is any one here?"

"Yeah," called another voice. "Comin'."

The two waited in silence for a few minutes and finally a short man appeared from out of the hall. What made Stephanie stare at him for a couple of seconds was his goat legs and horns.

"What can I do for ya?" He asked as he scratched the base of one horn.

"Uh, I'm S-Stephanie," she stuttered.

"I'm Phil," the goat man said.

"I was, uh, just looking for my friends," she explained. "There's a boy with brown spiky hair and blue eyes. A girl with light brown hair, about shoulder length, with blonde highlights and green eyes. Another boy with silver hair that's about shoulder length with light blue eyes. And another girl with reddish-brown hair that's cut sort'a short and with dark blue eyes. Have you seen them?"

"I've seen two 'round here," he explained. "They were with a duck and a dog thing. Said they wanted to compete in the Games, but I turned 'em down."

"Did they say where they were going?" She hurriedly asked.

"Nah," he said casually. "Just left angry 'cause I wouldn't let 'em compete."

Stephanie looked back at Blue Light with a look of exasperation. The Heartless hovered there silently and waited for her to make the next move. The girl sighed and looked back to Phil. "Thank you anyway."

"No, trouble," Phil said and made his way back down the hall.

"Where to next?" Blue Light asked.

"I guess where ever you sense they're going," Stephanie said with a shrug.

The two walked back out onto the hot sand and the girl climbed up onto the Heartless' back. She grabbed him tightly and the Heartless took off.

* * *

"Maybe we can find a world the actually appreciates our special fighting skills!" Kupo said proudly.

"Yep," Sora agreed yet again.

She had been at this for five minutes. It all started when Gizmo told them they were incredible fighters.

Sora sighed as he watched his friend pace back and forth over and over again. Gizmo had obviously given her too much of a confidence boost.

"Kupo, we get it!" Donald interrupted her in mid-sentence.

"Fine!" She shouted back at him.

"Just chill out for a while," Sora said. "It's not like we're ever gonna see that goat guy again."

"I guess you're right," Kupo agreed and sat down beside her friend.

"I wonder what world we'll be headin' to next," Gizmo said to himself.

"Who knows," the boy said. "I'd really like to go to a world where everything's spooky and where there's skeletons and ghosts and everything! Kind'a like a Halloween world."

"That's creepy," the girl said and drew back a bit. "I hope we don't. I've never ghosts. I hope we go to a world where I can swim all I want. Where there's Mermaids and Mermen. That would be awesome."

"I don't like the water," Gizmo said. "I wanna go to a world where you can swing on vines and sleep out under the stars. Like a jungle, I guess."

"I wanna go to a world that's just like home," Kupo spoke what was on everybody's mind.

Sora looked down at the floor. It seemed like a long time ago since he had walked along the beautiful shore of Destiny Island, but it had only been one day ago. He remembered the smells and how clear the ocean water always was. How could he have ever wanted to leave such a wonderful place? Back then it all seemed so boring, but now he wished he had never wanted to leave.

"We'll all get back to our home worlds eventually," Kupo said comfortingly.

"Yeah, but first we have to find Riku and Kairi," Sora said and began to look more confident.

"We're almost there!" Donald called from the cockpit. "I can see the world. We should be there in one minute."

The three sat in their seats and waited anxiously. Who knew what surprises the new world would hold?

The Gummy ship began to slow and then finally came to a complete stop. The three in the back jumped out the door only to realize that there was no floor to stand on!

"I don't wanna die!" Gizmo said and grabbed onto Kupo's arm.

"We're not gonna die!" She shouted as the group neared the floor.

Sora landed on his feet first followed by Kupo with Gizmo still clutching her arm for dear life. Donald landed safely beside Sora two seconds later and Goofy landed on his stomach beside Kupo.

"Wha'?" He said sleepily. "What happened?"

"You were sleeping!" Donald shouted.

Goofy laughed sheepishly as the small group stood. They were in a small room that looked like it was taken out of somebody's dream. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, Goofy saw a small rabbit hopping quickly past them.

"Oh my fur and whiskers! I'm late!" He cried as he hopped along even faster. "Oh the queen! She'll have my head for sure!"

_What kind of evil person would want to have a cute little rabbit's head!_ Kupo thought angrily.

The group ran after the rabbit in hopes of catching up to him, but he soon hopped out of sight. They soon came to a door and quickly opened it, only to find another door. Donald hastily opened it as well, but yet again, there was another door waiting.

"This is ridicules!" Sora shouted as Kupo yanked the last door open.

The entered another room that, once again, looked somewhat like it had been taken out of a dream. Up ahead, the rabbit had gotten tiny and had hopped right through a small door up ahead. Not even Gizmo could've fit through it.

"How's he get so small?" Sora asked.

"No, no!" A voice came from the doorknob. "You're simply too big!"

"WAH!" Donald cried as he jumped back. "It talks!"

The doorknob yawned as if it were bored. "Must you be so loud? You woke me up!"

"G'mornin'!" Goofy said with a friendly wave.

"Goodnight!" It said rudely. "I need more sleep!" It yawned once more.

"Wait!" Sora exclaimed as he got down on his hands and knees so he'd be level with the door. "How do we grow small!"

"Grow small..." Kupo snickered.

Sora quickly glared back at his friend as the doorknob replied. "Why not try the bottle over there?"

The group turned in time to see a table and a couple of chairs become 3-D. On top of the table were the two bottles the doorknob was talking about.

* * *

**A/N:** Yet again, Sailorstar165 is to thank for helping me on those end lines. She sure has been helping me a lot here and I really appreciate her help. Thank you! Anyway, review and I'll try to hurry with the update. Thanks again! 


	10. On Trial

A/N: So much for hurrying, huh? Yeah, I deserve it if you guys are mad at me. I've just been so busy lately! With all the school, my vacation, and various other things, I haven't had any time to do anything! Much less update a story that I know everybody's waiting for an update to. I promise you, I'm updating the best I can. Ok? Thanks.

Disclaimer: Same ol' disclaimer again. I still don't own KH, but I own Kupo and the Spike Blade.

Chapter 10. (wow!)  
On Trial

The group turned in time to see a table and a couple of chairs become 3-D. On top of the table were the two bottles the doorknob was talking about.

"Which one should we use?" Gizmo asked.

"Neither," Kupo said as the other four looked at her in surprise. "They could be poisoned, for all you know!"

"They aren't poisoned, trust me," the doorknob said with yet another yawn.

"Well, I don't see you drinking one!" Kupo pointed out.

"Um, Kupo, lets not fight with the doorknob, ok?" Sora whispered, fearing what his friend might do to the poor thing if it made her angry.

The girl crossed her arms and muttered, "Fine..."

Sora seemed a bit surprised at how easily his friend backed off, but didn't say anything. Instead, he walked over to the table and picked up a bottle.

"I hope the doorknob's right," the boy whispered to himself as he took a small drink. Before he knew it, he was tiny and was looking up at four giants. "Whoa!"

"Weird..." Kupo said as she looked down at the now tiny Sora.

"My turn!" Gizmo shouted as he grabbed the bottle and took a big gulp.

Goofy caught the bottle just as Gizmo began to shrink and took a drink himself. Donald grabbed the bottle from Goofy and attempted to drink it, considering he has a duckbill. Finally it was Kupo's turn. The girl looked down at the bottle in her hand with disgust.

"What's wrong?" Sora called.

"I'm _not_ drinking this!" She said as she set the bottle back in place. "Who knows what all's been in your mouthes!"

"Just wipe it off," Gizmo shouted.

The girl looked back at it and sighed. The things she did for the worlds... She wiped it off and took a quick sip. It did the trick. She shrunk to the size of her friends.

"Sora, you _do_ know that I'll beat you up if I stay this size, don't you?" She threatened.

He laughed nervously and began walking towards a hole in the wall. He'd go almost anywhere to get away from Kupo when she's angry. Right now was one of those times.

"You think he knows where he's going?" Goofy asked Donald quietly.

"No way," Donald replied. "As far as I know, he's never been here before."

"Should we follow him?"

"I suppose," Donald said as he began walking. "The king _did_ tell us not to lose these two."

"You're right," Goofy followed his duck friend.

The small group walked through the hole in the wall and ended up in a black tunnel. It smelled like a basement and the roof was low, so they had to walk bent over. It seemed almost like an eternity before Sora took the first step out of the tunnel and onto healthy green grass. The sun was so bright he almost had to shut his eyes.

"Court is now in session!" Came a familiar voice.

"I'm on trial? But why?" Questioned a girl.

Finally, Sora could open his eyes enough to see what was going on. He and his friends were surrounded by tall green bushes. A "throne" and a small stand stood on one side of them along with a small blue cage.

"Her majesty, the Queen of Hearts, presiding!" The small white rabbit the group had seen earlier said.

"What, are we playing cards?" Kupo asked quietly. But just as she said that, a card walked by. "Never mind..."

_What kind of weird world is this?_ Sora thought as the fat queen spoke.

"This is the culprit, there's no doubt about it!" She said. As she spoke, her body seemed to jiggle. "And the reason is...because I say so! That's why!"

"That's so unfair!" The girl on trial cried desperately. Her blonde hair was held back by a black hair-band and she wore a blue dress that fell just below her knees along with a white apron. She also wore black shoes that looked like they had just been bought along with white stockings.

"Haven't you anything to say in your defense?" The Queen of Hearts questioned.

"Of course!" She cried. "I have done absolutely nothing wrong! You may be the queen, but that doesn't give you the right to be so-so mean!"

"Is that the best she can come up with?" Kupo whispered.

"Silence!" The queen shouted so loudly that Kupo thought the queen was talking to her. "You dare defy me!"

"Hey, guys! We should help her out!" Sora's good nature kicked in.

"Yeah, but we're...uh..." Donald hesitated.

"We're outsiders," Goofy stated and then added. "So wouldn't that be muddling?"

"_Meddling_!" Donald corrected.

"Yeah," Goofy agreed. "And that would be against the rules."

Before Sora or Kupo could speak up, the queen spoke first. "The court finds the defendant guilty as charged!"

"But why!" The blonde cried.

"For crimes of assault and attempted theft of my heart!" She shouted.

A light went on in Sora's head. He knew who would try to steal some one's heart, even a mean old queen's heart, and it wasn't the girl on trial.

Kupo knew it too. Even though she thought this girl was too girly, she didn't want her to be punished for something she didn't do.

"OFF WITH HER HEAD!" The queen screamed as loud as possible.

"Oh no!" The girl pleaded. "Oh please!"

Sora motioned for Kupo to follow him as he ran in front of the queen.

"Hold it right there!" He shouted.

"Who are you!" She asked.

"Never mind that!" Kupo said quickly. "We know who the real culprit is!"

"Yeah!" Goofy said once he reached the two. "It's the Heartl-" he quickly covered his mouth to stop himself from saying it.

Kupo looked back at Goofy and shook her head. Who knew what would happen if he had let that one word slip out?

"Anyway," Sora continued, "she's not the one you're looking for."

"Nonsense!" The queen snorted. "Do you have any proof?"

Sora looked back at his friend and she shook her head. He sighed and said, "No, but-"

Before he could say another word, the blonde haired girl was locked in the blue cage.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Kupo started.

"Silence!" The queen shouted once more. "Bring back some evidence. Collect as much or as little as you please. But if you fail...it's off with your heads!"

_She's determined to have somebody's head..._ Kupo thought as she scowled at the queen.

The small group took one last look at the blonde girl before they walked through that same dark tunnel that had brought them there.

-------

Stephanie sighed as they flew through space once again. It had long sense become boring. It had fascinated her the first time she had ridden on the back of a Heartless through space. But now she was bored.

"Where did you sense they were?" She asked.

"A world nearby," Blue Light replied. "I believe it's that one up ahead."

Stephanie looked ahead and saw a small spec. How he could tell she would never know, but she had to trust him. He probably knew more about this stuff than her.

The planet grew larger and larger with each passing minute. Finally, she was able to make out a weird looking planet with pink and green ground. This was too weird.

"Are you sure this is it?"

"I'm positive," he said.

-------

**A/N:** I feel so bad for not updating as recently as I had hoped... If you guys aren't upset about it, please let me know 'cause I feel like I'm letting you down. Ok? Thanks. R&R please.


	11. The Evidence

A/N: I have not updated in what seems to be forever. I'm so sorry! I'm super busy and I honestly have no time. I'm trying my best and seeing as how this is a Tuesday afternoon and I got my homework done, I might as well do some updating. This one is for my friend Stephanie 'cause she's probably my biggest fan. Hopefully. lol I'm so glad I got to see you recently, Steph! Here you go!

Disclaimer: Still don't own Kingdom Hearts. Ugh...

Chapter 11

The Evidence

"You know, that queen was really starting to bother me..." Kupo stated as soon as they were out of earshot. "I mean, who locks somebody up with out evidence?"

"Her, apparently," Donald replied as they made their way back to the Lotus Forest. The forest around them was very quiet. Almost a little too quiet. The group of five became a little uneasy, but nearly jumped out of their skin when Goofy shouted.

"Hey, look!" He pointed at a light purple cat with darker purple stripes sitting on a stump.

"Who are you?" Donald questioned warily.

"Who indeed?" The cat replied smugly. "Poor Alice. Soon to lose her head, and she's not guilty of a thing!"

"Hey, if you know who the culprit is, tell us!" Sora ordered.

"The Cheshire Cat has all the answers -- but doesn't always tell," the cat said as he watched the confusion on their faces grow. "The answer, the culprit, the cat all lie in darkness."

"What the-?" Kupo arched one eyebrow and studied the cat hard. Suddenly, he started fading away.

"Wait!" Sora cried.

"They've already left the forest. I won't tell which exit. There are four pieces of evidence in all. Three are a cinch to find. The fourth is tricky. Big reward if you find them all," the cat said, pleased at his own riddle.

Donald quickly pulled the group a few feet away before asking, "Should we trust him?"

"To trust, or not to trust? I trust you'll decide," the Cheshire Cat snickered at the word play as he faded away once more.

"You know, I normally like cats," Kupo said, then added, "but I can't stand that one!"

Sora, ignoring the comment, said, "I think we should trust him. Even if he is lying, what more do we have to lose?"

"Riku and Kairi..." Kupo mumbled under her breath.

"Yeah, I think Sora's right," Goofy said first. "King Mickey would want us to trust him."

Sora smiled in victory as the five began their search for the evidence.

-------

Pink walls, green checked floor, and black doors. It was something comparable only to a child's dream. Or nightmare. The room was well lit, even though no light fixture could be seen. The lone figure with curly blonde hair was uneasy about the whole situation. This was a room like none she had ever seen, nor would want to see. She slowly turned to her Heartless companion and whispered, as if a sudden noise would receive an attack from hundreds of hungry natives, "Are you absolutely positive my friends are here?"

"Yes," came the simple reply in a normal voice, not a whisper.

The girl hesitantly made her way to the black door ahead, carefully picking her steps. She reached for the doorknob and twisted it. Another door was in line behind the first. This one was brown. Again, she turned the knob, but only to find another door waiting. Becoming careless, she flung open the remaining doors and stepped out into what looked like a kitchen. A table with a matching chair stood in front of her and a small door stood behind them.

"This is crazy..." she muttered.

"Welcome to Wonderland," Blue Light replied as he examined the room. A couch stood to their left and a stove and chimney to their right. An interesting combination.

"Wonderland?" She questioned. "I don't see what's so wondrous about it..."

The room they were in was anything but wondrous. That is, unless they looked up. If they had, they would have seen five tiny figures running around on the ceiling fighting Shadows.

-------

After the horrible experience with the up side down room, the group of five were grateful to be back in the world of right side up people and things. They were even grateful when the Cheshire Cat reappeared. Well, that's saying a little too much.

"Well, look what you've found!" He didn't sound the least bit surprised that they had found all the evidence for the queen. "Nice going."

"Now we can save Alice!" Sora declared proudly.

"Don't be so sure!" The cat held up one paw and popped Sora's bubble in one. "She may be innocent, but what about you?"

"Innocent? Of course we're innocent!" Kupo exclaimed, quickly becoming agitated with the cat once more. "We haven't been here for more than a day and already you think we're guilty!"

"Kupo!" Sora hushed her. "Now, what do you mean?"

"I won't tell," the cat said smugly with a glance at the girl.

"Great job, Kupo. Now he won't even tell us what we want to know," Donald said in a annoyed tone.

"But I will give you something," the cat continued. "I'll give you the power of ice."

Sora felt an intense power surge through his veins and he suddenly had the urge to freeze something... But still, all that power he felt! He opened his mouth to ask the cat what he did, but it was gone.

"Did you guys feel that?" Kupo asked. All the anger was gone from her voice and was replaced with a hint of fear.

"Don't be afraid," Donald said, already knowing full well what had happened. "You just obtained the ability to shoot ice beams."

"Cool!" Sora said as he froze a blade of grass.

"Guys!" Gizmo shouted. "Have you forgotten about Alice?"

"Alice!" Sora exclaimed. "We have to hurry and show the queen the evidence!"

The group rushed through the shrub door and slowly approached the queen. A red card quickly blocked their path.

"Are you ready to present the evidence before the queen?" It asked with a high-and-mighty type voice.

"Yes," Donald replied.

"Very well," the card continued in that same voice. "Counsel, step up to the podium."

Sora walked up onto the podium Alice had been at before.

"Now, show me what you have found," the queen said hurriedly.

Sora held out all the evidence and the queen frowned. The boy mentally went over all that just happened and wondered if he held it out in an offensive way.

"Well, that's certainly a lot of evidence," the queen's frown deepened as she continued, "but I'm still not impressed. Cards! Bring forth my evidence!"

Two frantic looking cards scrambled to where the evidence had been laid and placed the queen's evidence amongst it.

"Hmm, checking all five would only be a waste of time," she said slowly. "All right, then. Choose the one you wish to present. I'll decide who's guilty based on that evidence."

"What!" Kupo exclaimed from the sidelines. "After all the trouble of collecting it!"

"You dare object? Then you will lose your head!" She gave Kupo an icy stare before returning her gaze to Sora. "Now, choose! One box!"

The boy frowned in deep thought. He had no idea what the queen had collected, but he knew his evidence out numbered hers. So he made his final choice and pointed it out.

"Are you certain?" She asked hastily. "No second chances!"

"I'm sure," but on the inside, he was hoping it would all turn out all right.

"Now we shall see who the real culprit is."

Sora slowly walked over to the box he had chosen and opened it. A Shadow appeared and the queen shrieked out of surprise.

"What in the world was that!" She shouted at the boy.

"There's your evidence," Sora stated simply. "Alice is innocent."

The queen glared daggers at the boy. "Rrrrrrrgh... Silence! I'm the law here! Article 29: Anyone who defies the queen is guilty!"

"That's crazy!" Donald shouted in protest.

"Seize them at once!" The queen ordered her card guards.

A small tower with gears and wheels appeared out of the ground and a card began to pull the wheels. The cage with Alice inside rose up and a red velvet curtain wrapped around the front of it.

The cards charged for the group of five.

"Cards, if they touch the tower, you lose your heads!" The queen threatened.

Kupo saw her opportunity and sped towards the tower. A card jumped in front of her, but she quickly had him out of the way with her Spike Blade. The girl hoisted Gizmo up into the tower with three quick words to him. "Break the wheels!"

Gizmo watched as the girl hurried to help her friends, but his view was blocked when a red card popped up in front of him.

"What do you think you're doing?" The card reached his long thin arm into the tower. Gizmo jumped away and the arm began feeling around the best it could. The moogle quickly latched himself onto the arm and bit down hard. The card yelled in pain and yanked his arm out.

Sora rushed over to the tower and hit the card with his Keyblade. The boy gave a wheel two good hits before he ran off. "Go, Gizmo!"

The moogle climbed back to where the wheels were and began to use the ice spell the Cheshire Cat had taught the group. One wheel after another broke and Gizmo was going strong. He broke the last wheel and jumped out of the tower, only to be lost in a crowd of dashing feet. He heard Alice's cage being lowered again and the everything was silent. The moogle scurried around to the other side of the tower and saw the cage, but Alice was gone.

-------

**A/N:** Not much of a cliff-hanger here, unless you haven't played the game and that's very unlikely. So you'll have to settle for knowing what happens next. Thank you Sailorstar 165 for giving me that website with all the lines! It's a big help! Please review!


	12. Trickmaster

A/N: Wow! Fast update! Oh, and I'm talkin' on the phone while typing this. So talented. lol Just kidding, but still. I'm happy. Don't know why, but that don't matter. On with the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, but I own Kupo and Gizmo.

Chapter 12.

Trickmaster

Sora and Kupo gaped at the empty cage before them, neither knowing what had happened. They barely heard the cards shouting at each other, all fearing the queen's wrath.

"She must've gotten kidnapped while we were fighting," Donald offered, glancing up at the two who were slowly recovering.

"You fools!" The queen shouted from the throne. Her face began to turn red from rage. "Find the one who's behind this! I don't care how!"

For the first time since they met her, Sora and Kupo jumped at the sound of her loud voice. Donald and Goofy quickly ushered them back out to the Lotus forest where they found the Cheshire Cat on the stump again.

"Have you seen Alice?" Donald asked.

"Alice, no. Shadow, yes!" He said quickly.

"Where'd they go?" Goofy questioned further.

"This way? That way? Does it matter? Left, right, up, down! All mixed up thanks to the shadows!" The cat watched each of their faces twist into confused looks. "Step deeper into the forest to the deserted garden. You might find shadows in the upside-down room!"

"Not the upside-down room!" Kupo shuddered as the cat disappeared and the rest of the group started off in that direction. "Don't you start feeling sick in that room too?"

"Not really," Sora tossed over his shoulder. "It's just you pretty much."

"Now not exactly," Goofy tried to comfort her. "I feel a little sick myself sometimes in there."

Kupo smiled at his semi-comforting words, but she didn't really need to be cheered up. Except for where Kairi and Riku were concerned. The girl pushed the thought from her head as she hurried to catch up with her friends.

-------

"They're hiding somewhere," the Cheshire Cat said once they entered the upside-down room. "And the momeraths outgrabe. Want to find the shadows? Try turning on the light." He quickly faded away, but this time Sora wasn't confused about what to do.

The boy summoned his Keyblade and aimed it at an upside-down light and -- suddenly it was lit. He slumped and looked at Kupo who obviously wasn't confused either. She laughed as the cat reappeared.

"It's too dim," the cat said as he studied the light. "Make it brighter."

"So my light's not bright enough?" Kupo glared at the cat as Sora shot another fire spell at yet another light.

"All the lights are on," the Cheshire Cat eased away from the girl. "You'll see the shadows soon. They'll arise in this room, but somewhere else. The shadows might go after that doorknob, too."

At the sound of the doorknob, the group knew what was about to happen next.

-------

"I wouldn't talk to her if I were you..." Blue Light warned the blonde haired girl as they peered around the tall bushes at the queen.

"But she could help us!" Stephanie protested as she looked back to her Heartless friend. "I know sometimes people look mean, but they aren't always."

"Suit yourself," the Heartless sighed as the girl stepped out from behind the bushes. Almost immediately two cards were in front her.

"State your name and business," one card ordered.

Suddenly, the girl didn't feel so brave. She glanced around in hopes of spotting Blue Light, but he was nowhere to be seen. The girl opened her mouth to speak, but the queen spoke first.

"Is that Alice?" She questioned fiercely. The cards stepped aside to reveal the girl.

"No, I'm not Alice," Stephanie said quickly.

"That is Alice!" The queen shouted. "Throw her in the cage and don't let her out!"

The cards surrounded the girl and some grabbed her arms. She was dragged to an object that looked like a bird's cage. Before she knew it, she was thrown in it with the door shut quickly behind her. The cage shot up to the top of the bushes and jerked to a halt. The girl grabbed a metal pole in each hand and pulled herself up.

"I'm not Alice!" The girl screamed.

"Your hair is the same color!" The queen objected. "But Alice or not, we need someone in that cage. You'll do fine."

Stephanie screamed to herself and sat down on the floor of the cage.

-------

Sora, Kupo, Donald, Goofy, and Gizmo climbed up onto the giant table where the Cheshire Cat was waiting. He looked back and said, "The shadows should be here soon. Are you prepared for the worst? If not, too bad!"

The cat disappeared before they could ask him anything else, but their attention quickly focused on a large black and red Heartless. It was much taller than them and almost as thin as a pole.

"Look at the size of that thing!" Kupo shouted as Donald and Goofy climbed off the table.

"Come on!" Sora urged as he followed his friends.

The girl watched him climb off the table and set Gizmo down. "Wait here, ok?"

The moogle nodded as Kupo jumped off the table, Spikeblade drawn. He hurried to the edge of the table and peered off.

"I wish there was something I could do!" He said helplessly.

Kupo stabbed the Heartless with the pointed end of her weapon and Sora rushed in for a few good hits. Donald shot ice beams from afar and Goofy battered it with his shield. The Heartless pulled out some sticks and blew fire onto them. It quickly began swatting at its tormentors with the lit sticks. Sora narrowly missed getting hit with the fire, but Goofy blocked it with his shield before it could attempt another hit.

The boy looked up to see Kupo standing on the chair. As soon as the Heartless was below her, she jumped off and sliced its back in half. The Heartless wailed in pain and swatted aimlessly behind itself. Kupo, with her never-ending bravery, swatted back with the sharp point of the Spikeblade.

Sora leapt to his feet and scrambled to help his friend, but suddenly the Heartless was gone. In its place was a huge Gizmo. The moogle sat there with a grin on his face as he looked around at his new friends.

"Gizmo, you squished it!" Kupo exclaimed as she let out a laugh.

"He sure did!" Goofy watched as the moogle stood up. The Heartless was gone.

"I sure showed him!" Gizmo said proudly. "I'm glad I could help."

"What a racket!" The doorknob cried from behind the group. "How's a doorknob to get any sleep?" He yawned loudly and suddenly a beam of light from the Keyblade shot into his mouth. But he didn't seem to notice.

"What was that?" Donald asked as they heard a clanking sound. He looked up at Sora.

"You hear that?" Kupo asked, making sure she wasn't the only one.

"Sounded like something closing," Sora said as he watched the doorknob for a moment longer.

Something fell to the floor and Goofy picked it up. He flipped it over in his hand before saying, "This gummi ain't like the others. No, sir."

"I'll hold onto it," Donald took it from his friend and shoved it into his pocket as the Cheshire Cat appeared.

"Splendid. You're quite the heroes," he said, no sarcasm in his voice. It was almost as if he meant it. "If you're looking for Alice, she's not here. She's gone! Off with the shadows, into the darkness." The cat quickly disappeared before he had to deliver any more bad news.

"No..." Sora muttered, unbelieving that they would have to search for her along with Riku and Kairi.

"So we get to look for some one else..." Kupo said with a sigh as she put her gloved hands behind her head.

"Let's go back to our gummi ship," Donald suggested, trying his best to be helpful. "We might find her in another world."

"Yeah, maybe," Sora said hopefully.

-------

Stephanie had been in her prison for what seemed like ages. Nothing more had gone on than the queen deciding the date for the girl's beheading. It was set for the next morning because of all the commotion that had gone on that day. This was not any news the girl wanted to hear. She was scared and she wanted out desperately. But the problem was that Blue Light hadn't come to save her like she thought he would.

_Can't trust him as far as I can throw him..._ She thought angrily as dusk began to come to the empty courtyard. The queen and her cards had left hours ago.

The girl screamed from frustration at the fact that she couldn't get out and that she had come so close to finding her friends. Now they were probably two or three worlds away. She hadn't even got a glimpse of them. She wanted to know how they were and if they were all together.

_Sora, Riku, Kupo, and Kairi..._ A silent tear fell down her cheek. It had just hit her that not all of them might have made it off the island like she did. She was lucky. Well, she had been up until she got captured.

The girl heard a sound and looked up. She screamed at the glowing yellow eyes of a Shadow. It was in the cage with her!

"What do you want?" She screamed and quickly slid to the edge of the cage.

"Not so loud!" It said. "Blue Light sent me to help you."

"Blue Light?" She questioned, almost disbelieving. "Why didn't he come for me himself?"

"He said it would have been too risky to get you out on broad daylight," the Shadow explained. "Now do you want out or not?"

"Yes, please!" She said excitedly. The girl watched the Shadow sink into the floor of her cage and that's when she lost sight of it. But after a few seconds, she heard a lock click. "Why aren't you trying to hurt me?"

"You're the one he wrote about," the Shadow reappeared out of the floor.

"Who wrote about me?" She asked suspiciously.

"Here," the Heartless held out a tattered sheet of paper and the girl hesitantly took it. She tried to read it, but it was too dark. The girl looked back up, but the Shadow was gone.

"Where-" she began, but was cut off by a familiar voice.

"Ready to go?" Blue Light asked. He was outside her cage.

Stephanie grinned, forgetting how mad she was at him. She quickly folded the paper and shoved it into her pocket. The girl hurriedly climbed onto his back and soon felt the wind on her face.

-------

Kupo felt the warm sea breeze on her face and felt the tilted coconut tree under her. The ocean water lapped lazily against the side of the island and the girl smiled. She watched Riku swing his wooden sword at Sora, but the boy dodged the blow. Sora attempted to hit Riku, but he was too fast and had the younger boy down quickly.

"You're gettin' good, Sora," Riku said with a smirk as he helped his friend up. "But you're not good enough."

"Give me a break!" Sora joked. "I just got back from vacation yesterday."

"Yeah, but that's not much of an excuse," Riku joked back.

"You guys are crazy," Kairi laughed as she walked across the wooden plank that led from the large island to the smaller one her friends were on. "It's not like you're ever going to need those skills in the real world."

"You never know!" Sora teased her.

"Yeah, Sora, you, Riku, and I will probably never need to know how to sword fight when we grow up," Kupo jumped off the leaning tree and walked over to the sweaty boys.

"We might need to know how whenever we get off this island," Riku reminded her.

"Maybe," she allowed.

"You guys are crazy!" Kairi repeated as she let out another laugh. "Well, if I ever need some one to protect me, I'll know where to look."

Kupo opened her eyes and, much to her disappointment, saw the ceiling of the gummi ship, not the blue water and beautiful sky. Or Riku or Kairi. She sighed and sat up in the bed Donald had provided her. How could she get to sleep after a dream like that?

The girl slowly stood up and opened the door to her tiny bedroom. She stepped out and shut it, careful not to wake up Gizmo who shared the room with her. She turned to see Sora sitting at one of the windows. The girl crossed the room and took her place beside him. Sora didn't look up, but Kupo knew he sensed her presence.

"Couldn't sleep?" He asked after a moment.

"I dreamed about them..." Kupo replied, watching the stars slowly float by in an endless sea of black.

Sora nodded. "You think... You think we'll ever find them?"

Kupo continued looking out the window and saw a shooting star. She closed her eyes for a few seconds. When she opened them, she had a smile on her face.

"Yeah, I think we'll find them."

-------

**A/N:** Awesome chapter! At least I think it is. I loved writing this last part here with Stephanie escaping and Kupo dreaming. It was great, really. lol Well, I hope you liked it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please review!


	13. It's a Jungle In Here!

A/N: I'm on such an updating...spree! Yeah, that's the word. I can't wait to write the sequel to this!! Before I do that, I have to finish this or else it'll ruin everything! So, here you guys go!

Disclaimer: Unfortunately I'll never own Kingdom Hearts and I never will. But I'll always own Kupo and Gizmo!

Chapter 13

It's a Jungle In Here!

Kupo moaned and rolled over in her bed. She opened one eye slightly and glanced at her surroundings. The little bed Gizmo had slept on that night was un-made and his pillow was thrown to the side. Typical of a boy. She snickered silently to herself and closed her eyes once more. It wouldn't hurt to get a few more winks.

The girl turned back over on her stomach with her head under the covers. If any one had walked in at that instant, they might have mistaken her for smothering under the covers. She smiled at the thought. It felt great to have something to smile about. She and Sora especially had not had anything to smile about ever since the attack on Destiny Islands.

Suddenly, some one burst through the door and began shaking her. She jerked her head from under the covers and looked up at Gizmo. The little Moogle looked panicked as he realized she was awake.

"Kupo, they're out there fighting!" He explained quickly.

The girl furrowed her brow and the Moogle went on. "Sora and Donald. They're out there fighting over who will land the ship!"

"Oh great," she sighed and slowly sat up, her body still gripped by sleep. "Ok, go on out there and try to stop them. I'll be out in a minute."

Gizmo nodded and dashed back out the door. Kupo watched him go with a yawn. It was going to be an interesting day.

The girl slowly got up and stretched before smoothing down her wild hair. She stifled another yawn as she slowly exited the room. Before her stood Goofy and Gizmo looking rather helpless as Donald and Sora fought for control of the Gummi Ship.

"Riku and Kairi might be down there!" Sora shouted, trying to take the wheel from Donald. "Let's just check it out!"

"Forget it!" Donald returned angrily. "We're on an important mission!"

"Just land!" Sora shouted, both getting red in the face.

"No!" Donald shouted back as Kupo approached the two.

"Come on!" Sora pleaded as he glanced at the girl.

"Aw, phooey!" The duck waved his hand at the boy and turned back to the wheel.

For a moment, Kupo thought the matter was settled. Sora didn't say anything for a moment and everything seemed to return to normal.

"We're landing!" Sora exclaimed suddenly and grabbed the wheel.

"Don't touch that!" Donald yelled, but it was too late.

The ship lurched toward the planet ahead of them. Goofy and Gizmo grabbed onto a nearby rail and watched helplessly as Kupo and Donald were thrown to the floor.

Sora yelled and tried to avoid the crash-landing they were heading for. But it was too late. Everything went black.

-------

Sora slowly opened his eyes and squinted into the light of the sun. The boy propped himself up on one arm and glanced around. He appeared to be on the balcony of a tree house. Trees surrounded the lone house and vines grew around the rotting railing before him.

"Ow...my head..." he rubbed the back of his head as he continued to sit up. The boy turned to look inside the tree house. "Kupo!"

Sora jumped up and rushed over to his friend who was still out cold. He shook her in an attempt to wake her up, but she remained still.

"No, I can't lose you too!" He cried as he shook her again.

The girl slowly opened her eyes and blinked a couple times before looking at him and smiling. Suddenly, her smile disappeared and look of horror appeared.

"Watch out!" She shouted and pointed behind him.

Sora whirled around in time to see a large golden cat jumping at him. The boy rolled out of the way and looked back. Kupo had jumped safely out of the way and now had her Spikeblade drawn. The boy pulled out his Keyblade and charged the cat.

It all seemed like a blurr. It was a streak of golden fur and white fangs that was suddenly heading right for Sora. He held up his Keyblade in a desperate attempt to shield himself. The boy heard Kupo gasp and he looked up. A man with long, dark brown hair and dark, tanned skin was standing in front of him, keeping the giant cat away from the boy. With a flick of his wooden rod, he threw the cat to the floor. It slowly stood and sulked away, all the while glaring at the three.

The man with the tan turned to Sora and Kupo and said, "Sabor, danger."

"Um..." Sora replied slowly, still trying to figure out what happened. "Thank you."

"Thank you," the man imitated.

The two looked at each other, both confused.

"Uh, what is this place?" Kupo tried as she took her place beside her friend.

"This place, this place," the man replied, brown eyes looking the two over.

"Okaaay..." the girl hesitated. She had no idea what to think of this man. Obviously he was on their side. He had saved Sora, but still.

"Where did the others go?" Sora interrupted her thoughts. "Look, I got separated from my friends. Have you seen them?"

"Hm?" The man didn't seem to understand what they were saying.

"Maybe he speaks another language," Kupo whispered to her friend and he nodded.

"Friends," Sora said in a slow and drawn out way, hoping he would understand.

"Friends!" He said excitedly.

"Right, my friends!" The boy said, not trying to speak slowly any more. "There's two of 'em. The loud one's Dona-"

When he cut himself short in the middle of Donald's name, Kupo looked at him with her brows furrowed. He looked back at her and waved her off.

"You know what? Never mind," the boy continued. "I'm looking for my friends, Riku and Kairi."

"And Gizmo!" Kupo piped up, still looking at her friend with a confused look.

"Look for Riku, Kairi, Gizmo, friends?" The man asked.

"Right," Kupo replied before her friend could.

"Friends here."

Both of their jaws dropped in amazement. They had no idea they would find their friends so soon.

"Really?!" Sora exclaimed as soon as he could find the word. It was all so amazing that it would be this easy.

The man grunted a few times before repeating what he said earlier.

"Not sure I understand, but show me!" Kupo said excitedly as her friend agreed beside her. "Take us to Riku, Kairi, and Gizmo!"

"Tarzan," the man replied, instead of leading them to where their friends were. "Tarzan go."

"And I'm Sora," the boy explained slowly, trying to keep his patience in check. "This is Kupo. Tarzan go, Sora and Kupo go go!"

-------

Somewhere deep inside the jungle, Goofy and Donald were pushing their way through shrubs and weeds in a desperate attempt to find Sora and Kupo. With Donald leading the two, they pushed on until they finally reached a clearing.

"Gawrsh," Goofy said as he looked around for any sign of their two lost friends. "Where are we? I sure hope Sora and Kupo are ok..."

"Aw, who needs Sora?" Donald waved off his friend grumpily as he walked to the edge of the clearing. "We can find the king without him."

Goofy looked down at the ground, both knew it was a lie. They had no hope of finding their king without either of the two.

"Huh?"

Goofy looked up to see Donald face to face with a gorilla. Neither knew exactly what they were seeing, but it was Donald who was first to shout in terror. The gorilla let out a scream and dashed back into the forest, dropping a Gummi piece as it ran. The duck bent down and picked it up. When he stood back up, a tall, dark haired man in khaki pants and shirt stood in front of him. In the man's hands was a rifle.

-------

Tarzan led the two past crates, tables and stands of some kind to a large tent set up in the middle of the clearing. Not a soul was found outside, but it did not seem to faze the man as he led the two teenagers into the tent.

"Jane!" Tarzan exclaimed excitedly.

A woman with dark hair up in a bun turned to the three with a smile. "Tarzan! Oh, and who are they?"

"Um, hi there. I'm-" Sora began, but was quickly interrupted.

"Oh, you speak English!" Jane sounded surprised, yet pleased as she continued. "So, then, you're not related to Tarzan... Are you here to study the gorillas?"

"Gorillas...?" Kupo mumbled to herself, but not wanting to sound rude seeing as how they were getting a warm reception, unlike in Wonderland.

"Highly doubtful," came a voice from behind them. Sora and Kupo looked back to see a tall man wearing khaki and carrying a large rifle. Immediately, the two did not trust this man, but they had no reason to, so neither spoke up.

The tall man entered the tent followed by...Donald and Goofy!

"Sora!" Goofy exclaimed in excitement. "Kupo!"

"Goofy! Donald!" The two shouted and the girl rushed forward for a hug from each.

Kupo stepped back from Donald and looked expectantly at Sora. The boy finished giving Goofy a hug before slowly walking to Donald. The two looked hesitant, but still upset. The boy extended his hand in a friendly gesture and the duck took it. For the moment, it seemed as if everything was ok between them, but they quickly drew back their hands, crossed their arms, and looked the other way. Kupo and Goofy looked across the gap at each other and shook their heads in despair.

"A circus of clowns," the tall man grumbled as he glanced at the four reunited friends. "Not much use for hunting gorillas."

"Mr. Clayton, we're studying them, not hunting them," Jane explained as if she had done this many times before. "This is research."

Without another word, Clayton quickly left the tent in search of more gorillas.

"Well, the more the merrier," Jane said with a sigh. "Do make yourselves at home."

"Well, anyway..." Sora paused for a second before he and Donald both said, "I'm staying."

"Huh?" Kupo looked over at the two, not knowing what they even meant by that. She shook her head and quietly made her way over to Jane while Goofy showed Sora an item they found in the jungle. "Um, Jane, have you seen a small, white creature with a big, red nose and a red ball over his head? His name is Gizmo and..."

"I'm sorry," Jane shook her head with a look of true disappointment. "If I see him I'll let you know."

"Thank you so much," Kupo said, not feeling any better about not having Gizmo by her side, but knowing they would eventually find him. Just like they would find Riku and Kairi. Hopefully. She quickly shook the thought from her head as Sora approached.

"Uh, Tarzan said Riku and Kairi are here, but I don't see them, so...?" He tried to avoid sounding pushy, but he really wanted his friends back.

"I haven't seen them either," Jane said, still looking disappointed. Suddenly, her face lit up. "Why don't we try this? We'll show Tarzan some slides and- Oh what happened to the slides?"

"We'll go find them!" Kupo volunteered, her hopes rising. She turned to Sora with a determined look. "Won't we." It was a command, not a question that he was faced with.

"Yeah, we'll be back in a flash!" Sora grinned as they left the tent.

-------

An hour came and went before the exhausted group of four returned to the tent. They carried in their dirty hands six slides for Tarzan to look at. Jane took the slides and quickly offered them each a chair to sit in while she showed them the slides. They gratefully took their seats as the woman placed the first slide into the old projector. A picture of a giant castle appeared on the tent wall before them.

Kupo glanced over at her friend to see an intent look on his face. "What's wrong, Sora?"

"What? Um... Nothing," he whispered, hoping not to interrupt Jane as she placed another slide into the projector. "That place...it just looks so familiar. But how? I've never been off the island."

Kupo glanced back at the tent wall to see yet another picture on the tent wall. She looked back at her friend and whispered, "It looked familiar to me too. Almost like I've been in it... I'll bet I could tell you what all it's got in it."

The two were confused by this thought. They certainly had never been there, much less seen it. This was the first time they had ever left their island.

-------

Stephanie held the tattered piece of paper in her hands and tried to read it as she and Blue Light flew through space. The girl sighed and shoved it back into her pocket. It was too dark to read. But curiosity got the better of her, as it often did, and her mind began exploring all the possible things that could have been written about her.

"Thinking about what that Shadow gave you?" Blue Light's voice made her start. Her mind rushed back to where she was and what she was doing.

"Yeah," she said as another thought came to her. "Who wrote about me, Blue Light? And don't tell me you don't know 'cause I know you do!"

The Heartless chuckled to himself before saying, "Yes, I know who wrote about you, but if I told you, it might endanger you."

The girl frowned in disappointment. How much more danger could come to her? She didn't see how it was possible that she could be in more danger just over the author's name.

"Oh, come on!" She begged, now desperate to know since he knew. "You can protect me and when I get to my friends, they can protect me too!"

When Blue Light did not reply, she figured he did not want her to know. Or else he was telling the truth about how it might endanger her further. But after a long silence, he spoke. "If I tell you who wrote this, you will have to promise me you will never speak of it again."

"I promise!" She said excitedly, a large smile growing on her face.

"The man that wrote about you in that letter..." Blue Light paused as if considering whether to really tell her or not. Stephanie almost thought he had reconsidered telling her, but he continued on as he promised. "The man that wrote about you is the ruler of darkness as well as my master... Ansem himself."

-------

**A/N:** Ooooh. What could Ansem have written about Stephanie? _Why_ would he have written about her? If you want to know, and I'm sure you do, please review and I'll get this next chapter out soon! Or at least I'll try to.


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